Nikon Corporation

Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Hiroshi Shirasu

Ken Utagawa

Kinya Kato

Masaki Kato

Tomohide Hamada

Akira Ogasawara

Hiroshi Chiba

Masato Kumazawa

Masashi Tanaka

Yasuo Aoki

Kazuaki Saiki

Kunihisa Hoshino

Naomasa Shiraishi

Akihiro Goto

Nobutaka Magome

Yutaka Ichihara

Susumu Mori

Toshio Matsuura

Seiji Miyazaki

Yukio Kakizaki

Yoshihiko Kudo

Motoo Koyama

Tetsuo Kikuchi

Takayuki Kikuchi

Kei Nara

Isao Sugaya

Masamitsu Yanagihara

Tsuyoshi Narabe

Yoshiaki Kito

Masami Ebi

Takashi Genma

Joji Iwamoto

Kazuhiro Suzuki

Akikazu Tanimoto

Koichi Matsumoto

Minoru Fukuda

Takashi Gemma

Masahiro Nakagawa

Hajime Mitsuishi

Tsuyoshi Naraki

Masaichi Murakami

Manabu Toguchi

Masaki Tsunoda

Noriaki Yamamoto

Kiyoto Mashima

Haruo Ozawa

Masahiro Yoshihashi

Keiichiro Sakato

Daisuke Yuki

Hitoshi Hatada

Masahiro Iguchi

Mikio Ushijima

Masahi Tanaka

Kinya Kats

Yuji Kudoh

Kazuhiro Shimeno

Eiji Ariizumi

Masanori Aramata

Naoto Kiribe

To improve the throughput of substrate bonding. A substrate bonding apparatus that bonds first and second substrates so that contact regions in which the first and second substrates contact are formed in parts of the first and second substrates and the contact regions enlarge from the parts, the apparatus including: a detecting unit detecting information about the contact regions; and a determining unit determining that the first and second substrates can be carried out based on the information detected at the detecting unit. In the substrate bonding apparatus, the information may be information, a value of which changes according to progress of enlargement of the contact regions, and the determining unit may determine that the first and second substrates can be carried out if the value becomes constant or if a rate of changes in the value becomes lower than a predetermined value.

Substrate bonding apparatus and substrate bonding method

A substrate stage and an empty-weight canceling mechanism that supports an empty weight of the substrate stage are made up of separate bodies. Accordingly, the size and weight of the substrate stage (a structure including the substrate stage) can be reduced, compared with the case where the substrate stage and the empty-weight canceling mechanism are integrally configured. Further, due to movement of an X coarse movement stage and a Y coarse movement stage by an X drive mechanism and a Y drive mechanism, the substrate stage is driven in an XY plane and also the empty-weight canceling mechanism that supports the empty weight of the substrate stage is driven. With this operation, the substrate stage can be driven without difficulty even when the substrate stage and the empty-weight canceling mechanism are configured of separate bodies.

Movable body apparatus, pattern forming apparatus and pattern forming method, device manufacturing method, manufacturing method of movable body apparatus, and movable body drive method

Substrates are aligned and then bonded to each other. A substrate bonding apparatus includes a deformer that deforms at least a first one of two substrates that are to be bonded to each other in order to correct misalignment between the two substrates, a holder that holds the deformed first substrate in the deformed state achieved by the deformer, a transporter that transports the holder from a position at which the deformed first substrate is held by the holder while the first substrate remains deformed, and a bonder that bonds the first substrate that has been transported by the transporter to the second substrate. In the above-described substrate bonding apparatus, while the first substrate is not held by the holder, the deformer may deform the holder from a first state to a second state that is more deformed than the first state, and while the first substrate is held by the holder, the deformer may reduce the amount of the deformation of the holder to less than the amount of the deformation of the second state to deform the first substrate.

Substrate bonding apparatus, substrate holding apparatus, substrate bonding method, substrate holding method, multilayered semiconductor device, and multilayered substrate

A light source apparatus is equipped with a discharge lamp, which has a glass tube that forms a light emitting part and a base member that is coupled thereto, and a mounting apparatus that holds the discharge lamp via the base member. Therein, the base member has a flange part that contacts positioning plate of the mounting apparatus, and a fixed part that is urged with a pressing force that presses the flange part to the positioning plate. Furthermore, the mounting apparatus has a fixing arm that urges the fixed part by a compression coil spring.

Discharge lamp, light source apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure apparatus manufacturing method

A substrate is held by adsorption by a substrate holding frame that is formed into a frame shape and is lightweight, and the substrate holding frame is driven along a horizontal plane by a drive unit that includes a linear motor. Below the substrate holding frame, a plurality of air levitation units are placed that support by levitation the substrate in a noncontact manner such that the substrate is substantially horizontal, by jetting air to the lower surface of the substrate. Since the plurality of air levitation units cover a movement range of the substrate holding frame, the drive unit can guide the substrate holding frame (substrate) along the horizontal plane at high speed and with high precision.

Object moving apparatus, object processing apparatus, exposure apparatus, object inspecting apparatus and device manufacturing method

An exposure apparatus includes a plurality of projection optical systems, each of which has optical elements arranged in an optical path between a first surface and a second surface and forms a radiation pattern from the first surface onto an exposure field on the second surface via the optical elements. The apparatus also includes a movable portion disposed in the side of the second surface with respect to the plurality of projection optical systems, which holds an object to be moved relative to the exposure field in a first direction during a scanning exposure of the object with the radiation patterns. Each of the plurality of projection optical systems is telecentric on the side of the second surface, and the exposure fields are arranged at different positions in a second direction crossing the first direction.

Exposure apparatus, optical projection apparatus and a method for adjusting the optical projection apparatus

A scanning projection exposure apparatus transfers a pattern of a mask onto a photosensitive substrate while moving the photosensitive substrate along a scanning direction. The scanning projection exposure apparatus can include an illumination optical system optically connected to a light source, and a projection optical system arranged in an optical path between the mask and the substrate. The illumination optical system illuminates the mask with linearly polarized light whose polarization direction extends along one of the scanning direction and a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, without losses in quantity of light. The illumination optical system of the scanning projection exposure apparatus also can include a wave plate which is rotatable about a traveling direction of the light.

The memory unit stores the correlation of the positional change in the image planes of the projection optical modules in the focusing direction and the light quantity change. The image plane position determination unit finds the positional change value of the image planes of the projection optical modules based on the correlation information that is stored in the memory unit and the information on changes in the amount of light that is emitted to the projection optical modules. The compensation value calculating unit calculates the compensation value corresponding to the change in the amount of curvature in the image planes of the projection optical modules. The compensating unit compensates the change value in conformity with the compensation value. The focus compensation optical system is driven based on the change value that is compensated.

Exposure apparatus, method for manufacturing therof, method for exposing and method for manufacturing microdevice

An exposure apparatus having a plurality of projection optical systems where each of the projection optical systems projects a predetermined pattern onto a substrate and forms an exposure field on the substrate. The exposure apparatus also includes a substrate stage which holds the substrate and which moves in at least a scanning direction extending in a straight line. The plurality of exposure fields are arranged along a direction crossing the scanning direction, and the projection optical systems and the substrate relatively move during a pattern projecting operation along the scanning direction.

The projection exposure apparatus can include an illumination optical system for illuminating a portion of a mask pattern on a mask with an exposing radiation flux of a predetermined shape, a fixed support, a projection optical system fixed to the fixed support for projecting the image of the illuminated portion of the mask pattern onto a substrate, and a carriage for integrally holding the mask and the substrate, the carriage being movable in a predetermined direction with respect to the projection optical system successively exposing the substrate with the image of the mask pattern formed by the exposing radiation flux. The projection exposure apparatus further includes a long mirror elongated in the predetermined direction and fixed to the fixed support, the length of the long mirror being at least equal to the stroke of the carriage movement in the predetermined direction, and a measurement system for measuring the position of the mask and the position of the substrate with respect to the long mirror to determine the position of the mask relative to the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction.

Projection exposure apparatus

An exposure/imaging apparatus and method effects projection exposure while moving a first object and a second object in a predetermined moving direction, effecting projection exposure of an image of the first object onto the second object. An adjusting member is used to adjust imaging characteristics of a projection optical system that is used to perform the projection exposure.

Exposure/imaging apparatus and method in which imaging characteristics of a projection optical system are adjusted

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Yokohama, Japan

Hiroshi Shirasu